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Poverty Bay Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1363, 2 October 1883, Page 2

The Native Land Laws Amendment Act, 1883, has reached us. The Bill has undergone a considerable amount of alteration since last it appeared before us, the general effect of which seems to be to make the b 11 as non-operative as possible against any existing transactions. By a new clause (No. 5) the Court is empowered, atits’dis retion, to reserve any question affecting the rights of parties by statute, deed, will or other written instrument, and may appoint a day to hear counsel thereon ; also persons interested in the subdivision of any lands which may have been granted by the Crown may, with the approval of the Court, appoint agents to appear for them. Clause 7 (originally No. 6), which met with such strong opposition on the part of all opponents to the Bill, has been made much more clear and explicit, and sets forth that no person directly or indirectly, shall attempt to deal with any Native land until forty days after the title of such land shall have been ascertained, and also that the chief judge of the Native Lands Court shall give notice in the Gazette of the ascertainment of the said title, together with the name by which the land is known, and stating the date under the provisions of the let on which negotiations for dealing with the same may commence. An important addition has been made to clause 8 to the effect that “Native land ” in that and the preceding section does not include any land for which a certificate of title or memorial <»f ownership has been ordered to be issued before the passing <>f the Act. This section also enacts that no person shall be convicted of any offence under that particular section except on the information or complaint of some person duly authorised in that behalf by the Governor, either generally or in respect of some particular case The only effect this latter portion of the clause can have is to render the whole Act, in a great measure, inopera-

tive. Two entirely new clauses have been added to the Bill, the first (No. 16) making it unlawful to “ remove restrictions upon the alienability of land owned by Natives, either in whole or in part, until notice has been given in the Government Gazette and in the Kahili of the intension of such removal for a period of not less than sixth days.” On the whole, we must be content with small mercies, and can only trust that some more complete measure will be made and passed by the Legislature which will prove efficacious in suppressing some of the scandals which continue to crop up from time to time in Native laud dealings, and among others those in connexion with the dealings of the New Zealand Native Land Settlement Company’s agents, which called forth such severe censures from Judge BrouKFIELD last week, and which will, we hear, form a subject of communication to the Minister of Justice.